Chapter 41. Another Competitor(?) Aiming for the Hero
Chapter 41. Another Competitor(?) Aiming for the Hero
After an early morning of having my essence (?) sucked dry in a dream, I was streaming as usual.
"No way, firm peaches are way better than soft ones!"
[You're so clueless, you idiot]
[Isn't a firm peach just a sweet radish?]
[The guy above should just go boil some beef and firm peach soup lol]
The Galde Cup—our peaceful stream's recurring debate—had kicked off today.
The topic was peaches...
[ Saintess's Foot Wiper has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- Saintess, you prefer soft peaches, right?
"Mm... I like firm peaches!"
[Saintess's Foot Wiper: From now on, anyone mentioning soft peaches will be considered heretical]
[This guy is absolutely batshit insane]
[Like streamer, like viewers lololol]
→ A temporarily restricted comment.
[How is this any different from a witch hunt, wtf]
→ A temporarily restricted comment.
"It looked like the manager's working hard for the first time in a while."
Then, a viewer with a familiar name made a huge donation.
[ Takamine Reina has donated 3,000,000 Watts! ]
- Um... when will you be contacting me?
[Contact?????]
[That nickname sounds totally Japanese...]
[Streamer, you said you never had a girlfriend. Were you lying to us this whole time?]
Takamine Reina...
It was definitely a name I'd heard somewhere, but I couldn't recall.
Still, judging by that huge donation, she was certainly someone I'd crossed paths with before...
"Excuse me, but who are you?"
[ Saintess's Foot Wiper has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- You moron, that's the Japanese S-rank who came to the auction
"Why would that person be watching 'our' stream?"
"Huh...?"
[Could just be a viewer of Saintess...]
[Max donated before too lololol?]
"No, watching the stream is one thing, but what's this about contacting you?"
Click, click...
Laila clicked on Reina's nickname and opened a private message window.
[ Takamine Reina: Ah... you said last time you'd contact me, but you didn't... ]
"Did you really have to come to the stream to say that?"
[ Takamine Reina: Thinking back, I gave you my business card back then, but I never received the hunters' contact info, so I had no choice but to come find your stream. ]
"Aha, I see."
Laila's expression subtly brightened again.
She'd drawn a clear line between official business and the stream?
[ Takamine Reina: It's a bit urgent, so I came all the way to the stream. ]
"Hm... I'll send you our contact info via message, so please contact us once the stream ends."
I wrapped things up appropriately and continued the stream.
Then, just as I was about to type the closing message and end the broadcast,
[ Takamine Reina has donated 3,000,000 Watts! ]
- I prefer soft peaches, by the way.
---
We finished the stream and contacted Reina privately.
On speakerphone, of course.
- Do you remember me saying I needed the Hongyeom Fruit last time?
"We talked about it before, right?"
- ...Actually, my family needed an item with strong Fire Energy. That was why I participated in the auction in the first place.
"..."
- Of course, for the additional request, we naturally intend to pay the appropriate compensation.
"Well, do you just need us to bring more Hongyeom Fruit?"
- No, we need an even greater source of Fire Energy. Fire Energy comparable to the monster on Baekdu Mountain...
"Is there a monster with that kind of Fire Energy?"
- Yes... it exists on Mt. Fuji.
"Mt. Fuji? I've never heard of a gate like Baekdu Mountain existing there?"
- ...It was absolutely necessary for us. So we offered a great price and kept it hidden.
was that so?
My mouth was already watering.
I was already getting content delivered from another country without even having to look for it.
- I'd like to discuss the details in person. From the flight to the accommodations, we will naturally provide everything.
---
"So you two are going off to Japan together?"
"Yeah, they said they're providing everything from their end, so we just have to bring ourselves."
At my declaration that it would be just the two of us going, my mother and father looked at us with strange expressions.
Don't tell me they still think we're kids...?
"Laila... you have to be careful, okay?"
"Yes! Don't worry!"
We got into the luxury sedan they had prepared and headed for the airport.
Beside me, Laila was staring out the window, arms crossed, lost in her own thoughts.
Come to think of it, this was probably Laila's first time on a plane...
"Laila, what do you think this work they've asked us for is?"
"Mm... if they need Fire Energy, isn't it probably related to Frost Blood Syndrome?"
"That makes sense, right?"
Before long, the car carrying us pulled into the airport's private terminal.
Unlike where regular passenger planes landed, this area was secluded and quiet.
"Welcome."
A flight attendant in a crisp suit was waiting in front of the boarding gate.
"Ohh...?"
After a flight of about two hours, we arrived in Japan.
As soon as we landed, guides sent by Reina were waiting for us, just as expected.
"Whoa... how is this house so big?"
"I know, right... it's like a palace."
Laila was looking all around, fascinated by the house.
Just then, guards dressed impeccably in suits stepped out in front of us.
"We apologize, but we must conduct a body search before you enter."
"A body search?"
"Yes, we will also hold onto any weapons you are carrying. We will return them to you later, so please cooperate."
Well, I didn't mind much.
Weapons weren't a necessity for me, and being disarmed didn't mean our power vanished.
That's when it happened.
"Stop!"
Reina, dressed in a kimono, came running out from inside, looking flustered.
"What kind of rudeness is this to our guests!?"
The guards froze, taken aback.
But Laila and I waved it off, signaling that it was fine.
"Don't be too hard on them. The guards were just doing their job."
We followed her guidance and went inside.
She personally served us tea and began to speak.
"I'm sorry. For calling you all the way here."
"It's fine."
My gaze was fixed on Reina.
It was the first time I'd seen someone actually wearing the kind of clothes I'd only ever seen in videos (?).
─ Squeeze...
"Laila?"
"It's nothing."
But still, those clothes...
They would look incredibly pretty on Laila...
"Sigh... the head of our family is critically ill."
"Is it Frost Blood Syndrome?"
"No... it's the opposite. He's on the verge of being devoured by an overwhelmingly powerful Fire Energy."
"And yet you still need Fire Energy?"
The Takamine Family.
In the past, they were a clan that served a god and possessed exceptional spiritual abilities, earning them vast wealth from high-ranking individuals and entrepreneurs.
And their remarkable spiritual power shone even brighter once the gates began to appear.
'But the head of that family... was now critically ill?'
"We need the heart of a monster that exists on Mt. Fuji."
"You intend to offer that heart as a sacrifice to the god you serve?"
"Yes... that's correct."
"Well, you must have looked into us, so you should know. Money isn't that important to us."
"We will give you an artifact."
My brow furrowed.
Artifacts held no great meaning for me either, honestly.
"It is an artifact that governs abundance, prosperity, conception, and fertility."
"No... I'm not exactly running a farming company..."
"We'll do it."
Beside me, Laila, who had been still, opened her eyes wide.
Could it be... she was interested in business?
"You do know you can't change your words later, right?"
In an instant, Laila's eyes turned deadly serious.
---
Before Song Hoon and Laila came to Japan, Reina was having a private audience with her mother.
"Mother, are you sure it's alright to hand over that artifact?"
"Yes."
"But that artifact is for our family...!"
"Nothing is more important to the family than the head of the household."
Reina squeezed her eyes shut.
Her father, and the family's artifact.
She couldn't weigh one against the other.
"And... this hunter named Song Hoon."
"Yes, Mother."
"Isn't there a way we can bring him into our family?"
Reina shook her head resolutely.
He was a wild beast who wanted to belong nowhere.
A free beast, in the truest sense.
Trying to force a leash on someone like that would only bring about a great disaster.
"Reina, was your mother's meaning too difficult for you?"
"But, Mother, as you know, he's not one to be placated...!"
"Even an uncontrollable beast will change once it has a family and sires children..."
Was she telling her to seduce Song Hoon right now?
The truth was, she had known for a long time that a marriage based on pure romantic love was impossible for her.
Her social position made it impossible.
"But... beside him, there is already a woman named Laila..."
"Reina, you know your father already has several women, don't you?"
"Yes..."
"There's no problem at all with a strong, capable man having many women. That is why I also remained silent when your father embraced another woman."
She couldn't understand her mother's thinking at all.
How could she endure the man she loved holding another woman...
"In any case, your father is destined to return to me. Because I was the one who bore you, the most outstanding child among his many offspring."
"..."
"For the family, for the succession... make sure you bring that man into our family."
"I will try my best..."
---
"Stop!"
The guards had tried to body-search the guests the Takamine family had respectfully invited.
Fortunately, she stopped them before anything unpleasant could happen.
"I'm sorry. For calling you all the way here..."
"It's fine."
She exchanged greetings with Song Hoon and looked at the woman named Laila beside him.
And in that moment, she saw the abyss in her eyes.
'Mother... I didn’t think it's possible at all...!'